PHIL 348 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Perfective Aspect, Practical Reason, Conscientious Objector
10 Sep 2016
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Natural law theory: mortality is connected to law in some way; set of timeless/universally applicable and incontrovertible (necessary) moral precepts/standards of justice. To be law a set of requirements has to be essentially connected to these precepts in some way. Contrasts with positivism which posits that human laws are the only laws. Strong natural law theory (cicero/blackstone): lex iniusta non est lex. If the content of a system of law or a particular law is inconsistent with universal moral precepts then it is not law at all; evil law sys/laws are not law. Morality is a necessary condition for legality; this is a conceptual claim about the essence/nature of law. (positivism says morality is not necessary for legal validity. ) Problems: (1) morality is not relevant to a vast amount of law; (2) there is apparent law that is non-ideal; doesn"t live up to or promote the universal moral precepts.
